Institutions and Policies to Protect Rural Livelihoods in REDD+ Regimes

Kathleen Lawlor, Erika Weinthal and Lydia Olander
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Kathleen Lawlor: Kathleen Lawlor is an Associate in Research at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. Her research focuses on emerging policies to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries, with particular emphasis on the institutional and livelihoods dimensions. Her previous publications include "Addressing the Causes of Tropical Deforestation: Lessons Learned and Implications for International Forest Carbon Policy" in International Forest Carbon and the Climate Change Challenge: Issues and Options, edited by Lydia P. Olander, et al. (Nicholas Institute Report, 2009); and with David Huberman, "Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and Human Rights" in Rights-Based Approaches: Exploring Issues and Opportunities for Conservation, edited by Jessica Campese et al. (2009).
Erika Weinthal: Erika Weinthal is Associate Professor of Environmental Policy at the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. She specializes in global environmental politics and natural resource policies with a particular emphasis on water and energy. The main focus of her research is on the origins and effects of environmental institutions. Her most recent publications include "Seeing the Global Forest for the Trees: How U.S. Federalism can Coexist with Global Governance of Forests" (Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 1 (4) 2009, with Blake Hudson); and "Is an Exemption from U.S. Groundwater Regulations a Loophole or Noose?" (Policy Sciences 41 (3) 2008, with Brigham Daniels and Blake Hudson).
Lydia Olander: Lydia Olander, PhD, is the Director of the Ecosystem Services Program for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. Over the last five years she has helped build the Nicholas Institute while coordinating various programs and projects on climate policy, offsets, REDD, and ecosystem services. Her previous publications include International Forest Carbon and the Climate Change Challenge: Issues and Options, with William Boyd, Kathleen Lawlor, ErinMyers Madeira, and John Niles (Nicholas Institute Report, 2009); and "Reference Scenarios for Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Support of REDD: A Review of Data and Methods" Environmental Research Letters 3:025011, with Holly K. Gibbs, Marc Steininger, Jennifer J. Swenson, and Brain C. Murray (2008).

Global Environmental Politics, 2010, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-11

Abstract: While there is growing interest among researchers and practitioners concerning the risks that emerging REDD+ regimes pose to rural livelihoods, there has been little scholarly analysis of specific policies that could be applied to guard against these risks. We argue that for REDD+ regimes to avoid negative impacts on local populations, social safeguard policies will need to overcome the significant barriers posed by ambiguous property rights and weak governance and create five institutional conditions: (1) local community support for project-level activities, (2) citizen participation in reforms affecting property rights and land use, (3) transparency of forest carbon revenue flows, (4) citizen access to grievance mechanisms, and (5) opportunities for adaptive management through evaluation. We identify and discuss various policies that could be applied to produce these conditions. We argue that positively engaging rural populations in REDD+ may be integral to the effectiveness of programs in reducing deforestation and degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stores. Future research should aim to identify the causal mechanisms (policies and institutions) responsible for positive socioeconomic and ecological impacts in REDD+, while testing key theories that link participation to conservation and development outcomes. (c) 2010 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Date: 2010
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